The construction material exports should be promoted, director of theDepartment of Construction Materials Le Van Toi told Thoi bao Kinh teViet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times).
*Could you give us an overview of the consumption of construction materials in Vietnam recently?
The construction material market has been warming up recently, but a lot of challenges remain.
Sales of cement domestically and internationally in the first sevenmonths of 2014 were over 37 million tonnes - an increase of 8 percentcompared to the same period last year.
Consumption of otherbuilding materials, including tiles of different categories, glasses andtoilet ceramics, is also on the rise. As a result, their inventory hasbeen considerably reduced.
I think that we should concentratemore on exports, as our products have won customers' favour in theinternational market for their good quality.
*Do you mean that we have potential for export but have yet tapped it?
AsI said above, our building materials are high quality and meet allconditions to penetrate the international market. However, to do this weneed support from the government to carry out market research inAfrica, America and the Middle East.
*Many people say the mainthing preventing Vietnamese products from penetrating foreign markets istheir weak competitive advantage. What's your position on this?
Generallyspeaking, we are on the right track in export activities. It has helpedto increase our foreign currency while maintaining sustainableproduction and business.
Though we have gained an internationalmarket niche for our construction materials, their added value remainsvery modest compared to other commodities.
I have to concede thatour products are not diverse and many of them have to go throughmediators. These are the key factors affecting the prices of ourproducts and reducing their competitive advantage.
Our buildingmaterials producers face many challenges, including export tariffs,market promotion and transportation while trying to penetrate markets inWestern Europe, Russia and the US.
*What should we do to solve this problem?
Recently,construction material enterprises met and came up with a proposalasking the government to introduce a policy on commercial protection,anti-dumping and unhealthy competition to enable Vietnamese enterprisesto compete with foreign enterprises on a level playing field.
However,in the long run, building materials associations should be moreproactive. They should establish their own network and cooperate topenetrate major markets.
All in all, Vietnamese enterprisesshould make efforts to improve the quality of their products and launchcampaigns calling on Vietnamese to use Vietnamese products. These arethe core factors for our construction materials makers to secure afoothold in the domestic market while expanding to high-end markets likethe US, Japan, the Republic of Korea and EU member countrie.-VNA
*Could you give us an overview of the consumption of construction materials in Vietnam recently?
The construction material market has been warming up recently, but a lot of challenges remain.
Sales of cement domestically and internationally in the first sevenmonths of 2014 were over 37 million tonnes - an increase of 8 percentcompared to the same period last year.
Consumption of otherbuilding materials, including tiles of different categories, glasses andtoilet ceramics, is also on the rise. As a result, their inventory hasbeen considerably reduced.
I think that we should concentratemore on exports, as our products have won customers' favour in theinternational market for their good quality.
*Do you mean that we have potential for export but have yet tapped it?
AsI said above, our building materials are high quality and meet allconditions to penetrate the international market. However, to do this weneed support from the government to carry out market research inAfrica, America and the Middle East.
*Many people say the mainthing preventing Vietnamese products from penetrating foreign markets istheir weak competitive advantage. What's your position on this?
Generallyspeaking, we are on the right track in export activities. It has helpedto increase our foreign currency while maintaining sustainableproduction and business.
Though we have gained an internationalmarket niche for our construction materials, their added value remainsvery modest compared to other commodities.
I have to concede thatour products are not diverse and many of them have to go throughmediators. These are the key factors affecting the prices of ourproducts and reducing their competitive advantage.
Our buildingmaterials producers face many challenges, including export tariffs,market promotion and transportation while trying to penetrate markets inWestern Europe, Russia and the US.
*What should we do to solve this problem?
Recently,construction material enterprises met and came up with a proposalasking the government to introduce a policy on commercial protection,anti-dumping and unhealthy competition to enable Vietnamese enterprisesto compete with foreign enterprises on a level playing field.
However,in the long run, building materials associations should be moreproactive. They should establish their own network and cooperate topenetrate major markets.
All in all, Vietnamese enterprisesshould make efforts to improve the quality of their products and launchcampaigns calling on Vietnamese to use Vietnamese products. These arethe core factors for our construction materials makers to secure afoothold in the domestic market while expanding to high-end markets likethe US, Japan, the Republic of Korea and EU member countrie.-VNA
